CHAPTER 5: INTERACTIONS AND DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 5: INTERACTIONS AND DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT Objectives The objectives for this chapter are: Set up interactions. Create interaction templates. Set up interaction groups. Manage interaction attachments. Use the Create Interaction wizard for creating interactions. Record phone calls as interactions. Record e-mails as interactions. Work with automatically recorded interactions. Manage postponed interactions. Cancel and delete interaction log entries. View interaction statistics. 132

Introduction Setting Up Interactions The Sales & Marketing application area of Microsoft Dynamics NAV offers a possibility to create a record for all the types of communications you have with your contacts, for example, correspondence, meetings, sales and purchase documents, and so on. This enables you to effectively keep track of the sales and marketing documentation that you send to your contacts, and thus improve the quality of your business interactions. This chapter explains setting up and managing interactions and such interaction elements as interaction templates, interaction groups, and attachments. The program can create interactions entries of information about specific actions you performed involving contacts in the program. Once an interaction is recorded you can refer to it later if you need, for example, to retrieve some details of it. Interactions can be created for your contacts and salespeople and can be linked to to-dos, campaigns, segments, and opportunities. To be able to create interactions, it is necessary to set up the following parameters: Interaction templates Interaction groups Interaction attachments Interaction templates are used for creating interactions. Using these templates allows you to indicate the type of interaction you are dealing with, in addition to a variety of additional attributes of an interaction (for example communication type, language, information flow direction etc.). Interaction templates can belong to interaction groups and can contain attachments. Interaction groups are collections of interaction templates grouped for the same usage purpose. Interaction groups are used to View statistics for a group of interaction templates - you can see how many times you have used a particular interaction template or interaction group to create interactions. Group the interaction templates that you use to create interactions - one for storing all your letters, another one for your price lists, and so on. Several interaction templates can be assigned to one interaction group. Interaction attachments are documents created in Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Excel, or any other application, and imported to an 133

interaction template. You may need to have an attachment for sending invitations or business letters, for example. Creating Interaction Templates When dealing with your contacts, you can have the program create interactions for them. To make the program do this, you must specify an interaction template while creating an interaction to indicate its type. To specify an interaction template, first it is necessary to set it up, performing the following steps: 1. In the navigation pane, click Departments > Administration > Application Setup > Sales & Marketing > Marketing, and in Lists, click Interaction Templates. The program displays the list of the interaction templates. 2. In the Action Pane, click New to create an interaction template. The program opens the Interaction Templates window with an empty line created for the new interaction template. FIGURE 5.1 CREATING AN INTERACTION TEMPLATE 3. Fill in the Code and Description fields. 4. If you want to assign the interaction template to an interaction group (for viewing statistics at a later stage, for example), click the AssistButton next to the Interaction Group Code field and select the interaction group that you want the interaction template to belong to. 5. In the Wizard Action field, select what action on the attachment you want the program to perform when you click Next on the second page of the Create Interaction wizard. You can select among three options: Blank, Open, and Import. For more information about 134

working with attachments, refer to the Managing Attachments of Interaction Templates topic in this chapter. 6. To be able to interact with a contact in his or her preferred language, you can set a language code for the interaction. To do this, click the AssistButton next to the Language Code (Default) field. The Interact. Tmpl. Languages window appears. Click the AssistButton next to the Language Code field and select the appropriate language from the list. 7. In the Interact. Tmpl. Languages window, you can also insert attachments in different languages into the interaction templates. Do this by clicking Related Information > Attachment > Create. The program creates a Microsoft Office Word document that you can insert as an attachment into the current interaction template. You can create as many interaction template attachments in different languages as you need. The procedure of creating, importing, exporting, or copying an attachment in the Interact. Tmpl. Languages window is the same as the one for the Interaction Templates window. For more information about managing an attachment, refer to the Managing Attachments of Interaction Templates topic in this chapter. 8. If you want the program to use the correspondence type you select in the Correspondence Type (Default) field, and not the one selected on the contact card, select the Ignore Contact Corres. Type check box. 9. In the Unit Cost (LCY) field, enter the usual cost for this type of interaction. 10. In the Unit Duration (Min.) field, enter the usual duration for this type of interaction. 11. In the Initiated By field, specify who usually initiates this type of interaction. There are two options: Us and Them. a. Select Us if the interaction is usually initiated by your company. b. Select Them if the interaction is usually initiated by your contacts. 12. In the Information Flow field, specify the direction of information flow for this type of interaction. There are two options: Outbound and Inbound. a. Select Outbound if the information is usually sent by your company. b. Select Inbound if the information is usually received by your company. Entering Campaign-Specific Information If you always use the same interaction template to create interactions linked to a specific campaign, you can link the interaction template to that campaign. Do this by specifying a campaign code in the Campaign No. field in the Interaction 135

Templates window. The program will then link the interactions you create to the specified campaign, using the interaction template. If the contacts involved in the interactions are usually the target of a campaign, select the Campaign Target check box. If you intend to use the interaction template to record interactions that are a response to a campaign, select the Campaign Response check box. Now that an interaction template has been set up, you can use it for creating interactions. Setting Up Interaction Groups Interaction groups help you collect several interaction templates for the same usage. Interaction groups are set up in the Interaction Groups window. Setting up an interaction group involves creating a group code and assigning interaction templates to it. To set up a new interaction group, do the following: 1. In the navigation pane, click Departments > Administrations > Application Setup > Sales & Marketing > Marketing, and in Lists, click Interaction Groups. A list of interaction groups appears. 2. In the Action Pane, click New. The Interaction Groups window appears with an empty line created for a new group. FIGURE 5.2 A LIST OF INTERACTION GROUPS 3. Fill in the Code and Description fields for the new interaction group. 136

The interaction group code is created. To continue setting up an interaction group, assign interaction templates to it. To accomplish this, do the following: 1. Click Related Information > Interaction Group > Interaction Templates. 2. In the Action Pane of the Interaction Templates window, click New. FIGURE 5.3 INTERACTION TEMPLATES 3. In the Code field, enter a code for the interaction template. 4. Click the AssistButton next to the Interaction Group Code field, and from the interaction groups list, select an interaction group you want to assign the interaction template to. The program automatically fills in this field with the interaction group you opened the Interaction Templates window for. 5. In the Description field, enter a brief description of the template you just added. 6. If you need, fill in other fields for the interaction template. NOTE: Descriptions of the fields in the Interaction Templates window and their options can be found in the Creating Interaction Templates topic. Repeat steps 2-6 for all the interaction templates you want to assign to the interaction group. 7. When finished with assigning templates to the group, click OK. This finishes creating an interaction group. You can create as many interaction groups as you need. 137

Managing Attachments to Interaction Templates Interaction templates can use attachments. An attachment can be, for example, a letter to a contact. When an interaction template with an attachment is used for creating an interaction, the attachment can be sent to one or several contacts as the interaction is created. Attachments can be any type of a document, for example, Microsoft Word document, Microsoft Excel file, text file, and so on. However, Microsoft Dynamics NAV is only fully integrated with Microsoft Word. This means that you can only create Microsoft Word documents from within Microsoft Dynamics NAV; you cannot create Microsoft Excel files or other types of attachments directly from within Microsoft Dynamics NAV. There are several ways of attaching a file to an interaction template. You can: Create Microsoft Word documents directly from the Interaction Templates window. Import any type of a document. Copy an existing attachment from another interaction template. Creating Microsoft Word Documents If you have Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Word 2003, or Microsoft Word 2007 installed, you can create attachments (Microsoft Word documents only) directly from Microsoft Dynamics NAV, in particular from the Interaction Templates window. When creating attachments from within Microsoft Dynamics NAV, a new Microsoft Word document opens. In the Microsoft Word document, you can add merge fields. Merge fields are fields in a Microsoft Word document that are to be substituted with values from Microsoft Dynamics NAV when the attachment is sent to a contact. To add a merge field: 1. Go to the Mailings tab in Microsoft Word and click Insert Merge Field. 2. From the list of fields, select the one you want to add to the attachment. The merge fields cannot be modified as the list of available merge fields is supplied by Microsoft Dynamics NAV. When the attachment is sent to the contact(s) and an interaction being is created, Microsoft Dynamics NAV fills in the fields with the relevant information from the Contact Card, Interaction Log Entries, Salesperson/Purchaser Card, and/or Company Information windows and sends the modified attachment to the contact(s). To create a standard letter and make it an attachment for an interaction template, follow this procedure: 1. Open the list of interaction templates. 138

2. Select the interaction template you want to create an attachment for and click Related Information > Attachment > Create. Make sure that Attachment field for this interaction template contains No. The program automatically launches Microsoft Word and opens a new document. 3. In the new Microsoft Word document, enter the main text for your document, and insert the relevant merge fields. 4. Close the document. In the dialog box that appears asking you whether you want to import the attachment, click Yes to continue. Only the Microsoft Word document that you have opened from within Microsoft Dynamics NAV can use merge fields to be filled in by the program. A Microsoft Word document created outside Microsoft Dynamics NAV is not linked to the application and therefore and cannot have merge fields filled in with the relevant values. To link a document created outside Microsoft Dynamics NAV to an interaction template or an interaction, you must import this new document. For more information about importing an attachment, refer to the Importing Attachments subtopic in this chapter. NOTE: Only one attachment can be inserted in an interaction template. If you try to create an attachment for an interaction template already containing an attachment, the program will suggest replacing the existing attachment. To open an attachment to the interaction template, click the Yes option in the Attachment field on the interaction template list. Saving Microsoft Word Documents When the Microsoft Word document linked to Microsoft Dynamics NAV is open, clicking the Save button in Microsoft Word will save the changes in the document. When you close Microsoft Word, the program will ask if you want to save the changes and import the document into the program. If you do not import the document into Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the changes you have made will not be saved in the attachment. NOTE: When you are working in the Interaction Templates window, if two or more users open and modify an interaction template attachment (a Microsoft Word document) simultaneously, the program will only save the changes made by the first user to import the document into Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The changes made by the other user(s) will not be taken into account. NOTE: When you are working in a Microsoft Word document opened from within Microsoft Dynamics NAV, you cannot return to work in the program before you have closed Microsoft Word. 139

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Lab 5.1 Create an Interaction Template with an Attachment In this lab, you will practice creating an interaction template and inserting an attachment with merge fields in it. Scenario You need to create an interaction template for the follow-up letters. For this template, you need to insert a Microsoft Word document as an attachment and assign this interaction template to the Letter interaction group. Include the following merge fields in the attachment: the contact s name, e-mail address, the salesperson s name and telephone number. Challenge Yourself 1. Create an interaction template. 2. Assign this template to the Letter interaction group. 3. Create an attachment with the merge fields. Need a Little Help? 1. Create an interaction template with the FOLLOWUP code using the following information: Code: FOLLOWUP Unit Cost: 10 LCY Unit duration: 10 min Correspondence Type: E-Mail 2. Assign the FOLLOWUP interaction template to the Letter interaction group. 3. Create an attachment with the contact s name and e-mail address, the salesperson s name and telephone number as merge fields and insert it in the template. Step by Step Create an interaction template with the FOLLOWUP code. 1. In the navigation pane, click Departments > Administration > Application Setup > Sales & Marketing > Marketing, and in Lists, click Interaction Templates. 2. In the Action Pane, click New to create a new template. 3. In the Code field, enter FOLLOWUP. 4. In the Unit Cost (LCY) field, enter 10. 5. In the Unit Duration (Min.) field, enter 10. 6. In the Correspondence Type field, select E-Mail. 141

Assign the FOLLOWUP interaction template to the Letter interaction group. Click the AssistButton next to the Interaction Group Code field, and select LETTER. Create an attachment with the contact s name and e-mail address, the salesperson s name and telephone number as merge fields and insert it in the template. 1. Click Related Information > Attachment > Create. In the Microsoft Word document, click Mailings > Insert Merge Field. From the list of merge fields, select the following fields: o «Contact_Name» o «Contact_Mail_Address» o «SalespersonPurchaser_Name» o «SalespersonPurchaser_Phone» 2. Click Insert and then click Close. 3. Save and close the Microsoft Word document. Now the interaction template has an attachment with the contact s information. 142

Importing Attachments Instead of creating a new document, you can import an existing one to Microsoft Dynamics NAV. For example, you may want to attach a Microsoft Excel file to an interaction template. To do that, you must create the file and save it on a disk first, and then import it into Microsoft Dynamics NAV. To import an attachment to an interaction template, in the Interaction Templates window, click Related Information > Attachment > Import. The Import Attachment window appears. FIGURE 5.4 BROWSING FOR A FILE TO IMPORT Browse to the file you want to import as an attachment and click Open. The program will import the document. Copying Attachments You can also insert attachments in an interaction template by copying the attachment assigned to another interaction template. To copy an attachment from one interaction template to another, follow this procedure: 1. In the Interaction Templates window, select the interaction template you want to copy an attachment to. 2. Click Related Information > Attachment, and then Copy from. The Interact. Tmpl. Languages window appears, showing a list of all the interaction templates that contain attachments. 143

FIGURE 5.5 LIST OF TEMPLATES WITH ATTACHMENTS 3. Select the interaction template containing the attachment that you want to copy and then click OK. Once the attachment is copied, the program sets the Attachment field to Yes for the selected interaction template in the Interaction Template window. Attachment-Specific Information in the Interaction Templates Window If an interaction template contains an attachment, in the Interaction Template window, the Attachment field contains Yes. This field is not editable. Clicking Yes makes the program open the attached document. In the Correspondence Type field, you can specify how the attachment of the interaction template will be sent to contacts. There are three options: Fax, E- Mail, and Hard Copy. If you fill in this field, next time when you create an interaction the program will automatically fill in the Correspondence Type field in the Create Interaction wizard or in the Segment window and select the appropriate way to send the attachment. In the Wizard Action field, you specify the action that you want the program to perform as you click Next on the second page of the Create Interaction wizard. There are three options: Blank: If you select this option, the program immediately displays the second page of the wizard as you click Next. Open: If you select this option, the program will open the attachment as you click Next. 144

Import: If you select this option, the program will import the attachment as you click Next. Removing Attachments from Interaction Templates You can remove an attachment assigned to an interaction template. It may be necessary, for example, if the document is not used anymore, and you want to replace it. To remove an attachment from an interaction template, follow this procedure: 1. Open the list of the interaction templates. 2. Browse to the interaction template containing the attachment that you want to delete and click Related Information > Attachment > Remove. FIGURE 5.6 REMOVING AN ATTACHMENT 3. Confirm your intention to delete the attachment. The program will remove the attachment. NOTE: Removing the attachment from the interaction template does not affect the attachments for interactions created based on that interaction template previously. You can still open these attachments from the Interaction Log Entries window by clicking Yes for each interaction log entry. Exporting Attachments You can export the attachments contained in interaction templates to a disk. You may want to do this, for example, if the attachment is a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that you want to be stored on a disk. To export an attachment, follow this procedure: 1. In the Interaction Templates window, select the interaction template containing the attachment you want to export. 2. Click Related Information > Attachment and then Export. The Export Attachment window appears. 145

FIGURE 5.7 SELECTING A PATH FOR EXPORTING AN ATTACHMENT 3. Select a path and give the attachment a name to store it as a file. Click OK. The program will export the attachment. Using the Create Interaction Wizard The program offers several ways of creating interactions: Using the Create Interaction wizard for a single contact or salesperson. Using the Segment window for one or several contacts. Creating interactions from this window is covered in the Campaign and Segmentation chapter. Automatically when you perform specific actions in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The list of such actions is presented in the Automatically Recorded Interactions section in this chapter. NOTE: In terms of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, creating interactions means recording or logging them in the Interaction Log Entries window. Create Interaction Wizard Open the Create Interaction wizard from the contact card or the salesperson/purchaser card by clicking the Create Interact button in the Action Pane. 146

FIGURE 5.8 CREATING AN INTERACTION WITH THE WIZARD Mandatory Information On the pages of the Create Interaction wizard, specify the following information: The interaction template to indicate the type of the interaction you are creating and make the program record an interaction log entry. The name of the contact involved in the interaction. The salesperson/purchaser responsible for the interaction. The description of the interaction. The date of the interaction. The program automatically enters the values specified for the selected interaction template, but you can change them. The following table lists the optional fields that can be found on the pages of the Create Interaction wizard. Field Correspondence type Description If the interaction contains an attachment, in this field, you can specify the way the program will handle an attached document. There are four options: Blank, Hard Copy, E- Mail, and Fax. If you select Hard Copy, then when you click Finish, the program will automatically print the attachment. If you select E-Mail, then when you click Finish, the program will automatically send the attachment by e- mail. If you select Fax and the program is integrated with a fax, the attachment will be sent automatically by fax. 147

Date Time of Interaction Direction of Information Flow Initiated by Evaluation of the interaction Interaction cost Interaction duration Campaign code Opportunity code If you leave this field blank, the program will not send or print the attachment. You can use this option, for example, if you have already printed or sent the attachment before recording the interaction. In these fields, you can specify the date and time when the interaction was created. In this field, you can specify the direction the information flows. You can select among the Inbound and Outbound options. In this field, you can specify who was an initiator of the interaction. You can select among Us and Them. In this field, specify how you evaluate this interaction. You can select among five options: Very Positive, Positive, Neutral, Negative, and Very Negative. It is also possible to evaluate the interaction in the Interaction Log Entries window after it was logged. In this field, you can specify estimated value of the interaction. In this field, you can specify, how long the interaction will last. By specifying a campaign code in this field, you can link the interaction to a campaign. If the interaction is linked to a campaign, when you click Finish, the program will automatically record the interaction as a campaign entry for the specified campaign. By specifying an opportunity code in this field, you can link the interaction to an opportunity. The following screen shots show the fields described. 148

FIGURE 5.9 SPECIFYING THE INTERACTION DETAILS FIGURE 5.10 SPECIFYING COST AND DURATION FOR THE INTERACTION 149

FIGURE 5.11 ASSIGNING A CAMPAIGN AND OPPORTUNITY TO THE INTERACTION Importing Attachments If you have chosen an interaction template that does not include an attachment, but for which the Import option has been selected in the Wizard Action field in the Interaction Template window, then you can import the attachment while creating an interaction with the Create Interaction wizard. When you click Next in the second page of the wizard, a dialog box appears, offering you to browse to the file you want to attach. This enables you, for example, to have received letters attached to the interaction entry. To import an attachment, do these steps: 1. Scan the letter received. 2. Import it with the Create Interaction wizard. As you click Finish in the Create Interaction wizard, the interaction log entry is recorded and the scanned letter is attached to it in the Interaction Log Entries window. Viewing Recorded Interactions You can view the created interaction in the Interaction Log Entries window for the specific contact or salesperson. For example, to see the interactions involving The Cannon Group, on the contact card, click Related Information > Contact, and then Interaction Log Entries. The Interaction Log Entries window for The Cannon Group appears: 150

FIGURE 5.12 VIEWING INTERACTION LOG ENTRIES FOR CANNON GROUP The Interaction Log Entries window contains a list of all the interactions involving the contact, presenting the details for each interaction, such as cost, duration, and the salesperson that handled them. If the interaction contains an attachment (for example, a letter or another document sent), you can view it by clicking Yes in the Attachment field or clicking Show in the Action Pane. NOTE: For interactions that do not contain an attachment clicking Show opens the document in NAV the interactions are created for. Clicking No for such interactions does not lead to any results. The Interaction Log Entry window can also be accessed from a salesperson card, a to-do card, a contact card, a campaign card or a list of opportunities. In each case, it will display interactions recorded for the respective entity. Postponing the Interaction While creating an interaction, you may decide to interrupt this process by closing the Create Interaction wizard, for example, if you need to add some details to a salesperson or campaign card, or simply to postpone creating an interaction. You can close the wizard in several ways: By clicking the Close button. By pressing the ESC key. If you close the wizard, a message appears asking whether you want to finish this interaction later. Click Yes if you want to postpone the creation of this interaction and finish it later. When you click Yes, the program automatically stores the newly created interaction in the Postponed Interactions window. If you have linked the interaction to a campaign, the program does not insert a new entry in the Campaign Entry window yet. It will be inserted when the interaction is logged in Interaction Log Entries. 151

If a postponed interaction contains an attachment, it will be stored in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. To view an attachment stored for a contact, do the following: 1. Open the list of the contacts. 2. Select the contact which you want to view an attachment for the postponed interaction for. 3. Click Related Information > Contact > Postpones Interactions. 4. In the Postponed Interactions window, select the interaction with the attachment you want to view, and click Show. You can continue editing the attachment only in the Create Interaction wizard when you resume the interaction. Finishing and Deleting Postponed Interactions You can finish or delete a postponed interaction from any location it is created a contact, salesperson, and to-do cards, or a list of opportunities. To finish a postponed interaction: 1. In the navigation pane, click the Administration Sales/Purchase button, and then click Salespeople/Purchasers. Select a salesperson you want to finish an interaction for and click Related Information > Salesperson > Postponed Interactions. 2. Select the interaction you want to finish, and in the Action Pane, click Resume. 3. Fill in the remaining fields in the wizard and modify the attachment, if necessary. 4. Click Finish. Now the interaction is logged to the interaction log, and if you have linked the interaction to a campaign, a record also appears in the Campaign Entry window. 5. To view this record, on the list of campaigns, select a campaign you want to view entries for and click Related Information > Campaign Entries. For information about campaign entries, refer to the Campaign and Segmentation chapter. NOTE: You can postpone and resume creation of an interaction as many times as you want. To delete a postponed interaction: 1. In the navigation pane, click the Administration Sales/Purchase button, and then click Salespeople/Purchasers. Select a salesperson you want to delete an interaction for and click Related Information > Salesperson > Postponed Interactions. 2. Select the interaction you want to delete, and click Actions > Functions > Delete or click Actions > Delete. 152

3. To confirm the deletion, click Yes in the message that appears. 153

Lab 5.2 Record Interactions In this lab, you will practice recording an interaction for one of your contacts. Scenario You have just come back from a meeting with John Smith at MultiSport, where you presented your new line of bicycles to him. The meeting went well. Challenge Yourself 1. Record the interaction. 2. Evaluate the meeting during recording the interaction. Need a Little Help 1. For contact John Smith, record an interaction using the BUS interaction template. Its correspondence type is hard copy, which makes the program automatically print the letter as the interaction is recorded. 2. Specify your evaluation of the interaction as a very positive one. 3. Indicate a successful attempt of the interaction. Step by Step For contact John Smith, create an interaction using the Business Letter interaction template. 1. Open the list of the contacts and browse to John Smith from MultiSport. 2. In the Action Pane, click Create Interact. 3. In the Create Interaction wizard, click the AssistButton next to the What is the type of interaction? field and select BUS for Business Letter. 4. In the Description field, enter description of the meeting. Specify your evaluation of the interaction as a very positive one. Click Next. Click the AssistButton next to the Enter the evaluation of the interaction here field and select Very Positive. Indicate a successful attempt of the interaction. Select the The interaction attempt was successful check box. As you click Finish, a record about this interaction is created in the interaction log and a letter is printed. 154

Making Phone Calls Chapter 5: Interactions and Document Management You can have the program create interaction entries as you make a phone call to your contacts. Before you can record phone calls as interactions in the program, you must ensure that the interaction template code for outgoing phone calls has been selected in the Outgoing Calls field on the General FastTab in the Interaction Template Setup window. NOTE: Making phone calls is only recorded as interaction when working with the Classic client of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. For performing the procedures described in this section, be sure to open the Classic client. When you want to make a call, follow this procedure: 1. In the navigation pane, click Sales & Marketing > Marketing > Contacts. 2. Browse to the contact you want to call to. 3. Go to the Communication tab. Click the button next to the Phone No. field. Make sure the phone number for the contact is specified. As you click this button, the Make Phone Call wizard appears. FIGURE 5.13 THE MAKING PHONE CALL WIZARD 4. Fill in the Description field. Other fields on this page are filled in by the program. 5. Select the Dial Contact on Next check box, if you want to start calling the contact once you click Next in the wizard. In this case, the Phone Dialer application opens with the contact phone number specified. Click Dial to perform a call. You will continue working with the wizard after performing a call. 155

FIGURE 5.14 PHONE DIALER 6. If you do not select the Dial Contact on Next check box, clicking Next moves you to the next page of the wizard. 7. Fill in the What is your evaluation of the phone call? field with either of the available options: Very Positive, Positive, Neutral, Negative, and Very Negative. FIGURE 5.15 EVALUATING THE CALL 8. Click Next. On this page, you can specify a campaign and/or an opportunity to link them to the call. 156

FIGURE 5.16 SPECIFY A CAMPAIGN OR AN OPPORTUNITY TO LINK TO THE INTERACTION 9. Click Finish. As the interaction is recorded, you can view it in the Interaction Log Entries window, opened from the contact card for the contact who you called to. To open the Interaction Log Entries window, on the contact card, click Contact > Interaction Log Entries. The window contains a new entry for the phone call. FIGURE 5.17 THE INTERACTION LOG ENTRY RECORDED THE PHONE CALL NOTE: In the RoleTailored client of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, to be able to make phone calls, you must have Microsoft Office Communicator installed. 157

E-Mails You can have the program create interaction entries as you send e-mails to your contacts. NOTE: Sending and receiving e-mails are only recorded as interactions in the Classic client of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. For performing the procedures described in this section, be sure to open the Classic client. If you have Microsoft Office Outlook installed, you can send your e-mails from Microsoft Dynamics NAV. This is an easy and quick way to communicate with your contacts (customers, vendors, and so on). As your e-mails are logged as interaction log entries, you can share the information about any e-mail correspondence going on with your external contacts. This allows other members of the organization to follow up on e-mail correspondence. From the Interaction Log Entries window, you can open mails and view their contents. To do this, select the entry for the mail in question, and then click the Show button. Before you can send e-mails, set up The interaction template code in the E-Mails field on the General tab in the Interaction Template Setup window. The E-Mail Logging feature on the E-Mail Logging tab of the Marketing Setup window. To read about setting up interaction templates and the E-Mail Logging feature, refer to the Setup Procedure chapter. The section below describes how you send e-mails and have them logged in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Sending E-Mails There are two ways to send e-mails to your contacts from Microsoft Dynamics NAV: By clicking the envelope button to the right of the E-Mail field on the Communication tab on the contact card and going through the process of creating an e-mail message with the Create Mail wizard. By using the Create Interaction wizard, and selecting e-mail as a correspondence type. For more information about sending e-mails with the Create Interaction wizard, refer to the Using the Create Interaction Wizard section in this chapter. 158

To send an e-mail with the Create Mail wizard and create an interaction log entry, follow these steps: 1. Open the contact card for the contact you want to send an e-mail message to. Go to the Communication tab. 2. Make sure an e-mail address is specified for the contact. Click the envelope button wizard appears. to the right of the E-Mail field. The Create Mail FIGURE 5.18 THE CREATE MAIL WIZARD 3. Fill in the Description field. Other fields are filled in by the program. 4. Select the Mail contact on Next check box, if you want to start writing an e-mail message as you click Next. In this case, a standard Microsoft Office Outlook window opens where you can write a message. Clicking Send will send your message to the contact. You will continue working with the wizard after sending a message. If you do not select the Mail contact on Next check box, clicking Next moves you to the next page of the wizard. 159

FIGURE 5.19 EVALUATING THE MAIL 5. Fill in the What is your evaluation of the mail? field with either of the available options: Very Positive, Positive, Neutral, Negative, and Very Negative. You may want to link the mail to a campaign and/or an opportunity, or change the mail initiator, cost, or duration. You can do it in the relevant fields of this page in the wizard. 6. Click Finish. As you click Finish in the wizard, an interaction log entry about the message sent is created for the contact. FIGURE 5.20 THE INTERACTION LOG ENTRY FOR THE MAIL CREATED 160

NOTE: The procedure of logging received e-mails is the same as for e-mails sent. For further details about the E-Mail Logging feature, refer to the section E-Mail Logging for MS Exchange Server in the Sales & Marketing Navision Technical White Paper. Automatically Recorded Interactions You can have the program automatically record the sales, purchase, and service documents that you create and print for your contacts as interactions. You can do this only if the contact in question is also recorded in the program as a customer, vendor, or bank. For example, if a contact is also recorded as a customer, you can create a sales quote from the contact s customer card, and you can have the program automatically record an interaction when you print the sales quote. When you perform certain sales, purchase, and service actions in Microsoft Dynamics NAV for a customer or vendor that is also recorded as a contact, the program automatically records the action as an interaction for the contact in the Sales & Marketing application area. The program records interactions when you do the following: Print sales and purchase quotes. Print sales and purchase orders. Print sales and purchase invoices. Print sales and purchase blanket orders. Print sales reminders. Print sales statements. Print sales and purchase credit memos. Print sales shipment notes. Print purchase receipts. Create service orders. Print sales return orders and return receipts. Print sales finance charge memos. Print purchase return shipments and return order confirmations. Print service contracts, contract quotes, and quotes. NOTE: The current version of Microsoft Dynamics NAV does not create an interaction log entry when a service order is posted. If a service order had been logged during creation and then posted, the program does not allow opening a service order from the log. 161

You can see the interactions that the program has automatically created for a contact in the contact s interaction log. Demonstration Create and Print Sales Quotes for Customers In this demonstration, you will see that a sales quote created and printed for a customer can be recorded as an interaction. If a contact is registered in the program and linked with that customer the program will create an interaction entry for a sales quote created and printed. 1. Open the list of the contacts and browse to the contact you want to create a sale quote for. A contact must not be an independent contact. 2. To be able to create a sales quote, the contact you selected must be linked to a customer, vendor, and/or bank account. To find out what the contact is linked to, click Related Information > Contact > Customer/Vendor/Bank Acc. As any of the three cards may appear, for the sake of the example, suppose that the customer card appears. NOTE: If a contact is not linked to a customer, vendor, and/or bank account yet, you must link it to any of them. For information about linking a contact to a customer, vendor, and/or bank account, refer to the Contacts chapter. 3. Before creating a sales quote, ensure that the posting groups are specified for a customer. To do this, on the Invoicing FastTab of the customer card, verify that the Gen. Bus. Posting Group, VAT Bus. Posting Group, and Customer Posting Group fields are filled in with appropriate posting groups. 4. On the customer card, click Related Information > Sales > Quotes. The Sales Quotes window with the list of the sales quotes appears. 5. In the Action Pane, click New to create a new sales quote. 6. Press ENTER to have the program automatically enter the next available sales quote number. The program also fills in the fields for the customer and the linked contact. 7. Enter the quote details. 8. In the Action Pane, click Print to print the sales quote. The Sales - Quote window appears. 9. On the Options FastTab, choose whether you want to show internal information, archive a document, and specify the number of copies you want to be printed. Make sure the Log Interaction check box is selected. 10. Click Print. The program will automatically record the sales quote as an interaction for the contact though it was created for the customer also. You can view the interaction entry by selecting the line with the quote and clicking Show in the Interaction Log Entries window opened for the contact. 162

Printing a Contact Cover Sheet The program can automatically create an interaction entry when you print cover sheets to send to your contacts. To have the program do it, select the Log Interaction check box in the Contact Cover Sheet window. By default, this check box is selected. An interaction log entry is not created if this check box is clear. To create log entries and print cover sheets for a contact, follow these steps: 1. On the contact card for your contact, click Actions > Functions > Print Cover Sheet. The Contact - Cover Sheet window appears. 2. Go to the Options FastTab. FIGURE 5.21 GETTING READY TO PRINT COVER SHEET 3. Fill in the Text field with the relevant text and select any check boxes in the Remarks area according to your needs. 4. Click Print. The program will print cover sheets and create a new interaction entry for the contact. You can view it in the Interaction Log Entries window for this contact. 163

Lab 5.3 Create an Automatically Recorded Interaction In this lab, you will practice performing actions that make the program automatically create an interaction. Scenario In his letter, John Drave, a new contact, told you that he is interested in buying 50 bicycles (item number 1000). Since you have not signed a contract with John, you decide to register him as a contact and create and print a sales quote for him. Challenge Yourself 1. Create a new contact card for John Drave and link it to a customer. 2. Create a sales quote for John for 50 bicycles and print it. 3. Verify that the interaction log entry is created. Step by Step Create a new contact card for John Drave. 1. On the list of the contacts, click New. 2. Press ENTER to let the program enter the next available number for a customer. 3. In the Type field, click the AssistButton and select Company. 4. In the Name field, enter John Drave. 5. Click the AssistButton next to the Salesperson Code field and select PS as a salesperson who will handle John. 6. Click Actions > Functions > Link with existing > Customer. 7. In the Customer No. field of the Customer Link window, click the AssistButton and select customer to link with John. Create a quote for John for 50 bicycles and print it. 1. In the Action Pane of the contact card, click Sales Quotes. 2. In the Action Pane of the Sales Quotes window that appears, click New to create a new quote. 3. On the Lines FastTab, click the AssistButton next to the Type field, and select Item. 4. Click the AssistButton next to the No. field, and select 1000, Bicycle. In the Quantity field, enter 50. 5. In the Action Pane of the sales quote, click Print. Make sure the Log Interaction check box. 6. Click Print. Verify that the interaction log entry is created. 164

1. From the contact card, click Related Information > Contact > Interaction Log Entries. 2. Browse to the entry that relates to printing of the sales quote. 165

Canceling and Deleting Interaction Log Entries You can manage interaction log entries by canceling or deleting them. You may want to cancel an interaction entry if, for example, it records an interaction that has never been performed. Deleting interaction log entries may be needed if the list of interaction entries is overloaded with records. Canceling Interaction Log Entries To cancel an interaction log entry, follow these steps: 1. Open the Interaction Log Entries window. 2. Select the interaction log entry you want to cancel and click Actions > Functions > Switch Checkmark in Canceled. 3. Confirm cancellation in the subsequent message. NOTE: You can cancel several interactions at once by selecting them in the Interaction Log Entries window and using the Switch Checkmark in Canceled function. Deleting Interaction Log Entries As you canceled an interaction log entry, it can be deleted. Only canceled interaction log entries can be deleted. To delete canceled interaction log entries, follow this procedure: 1. Click Departments > Administration > IT Administration > Data Deletion > Tasks, and then under Marketing Activities, click Delete Canceled Interaction Log Entries. The Delete Interaction Log Entries window appears. FIGURE 5.22 DELETION OF CANCELED INTERACTION LOG ENTRIES 166

2. To the right of the Entry No. field, click the AssistButton and select the interaction log entry or the range of them that you want to delete. Interaction Statistics NOTE: You can specify any other parameter to indicate which of the canceled interaction log entries you want to delete. If no parameters are specified, the program will delete all canceled interaction entries. 3. Click OK. The program deletes the interaction log entries you have specified. You can view statistics about your interactions in the Interaction Tmpl. Statistics window and the Interaction Group Statistics window. Interaction Template Statistics In the Interaction Tmpl. Statistics window, you can view information about the interaction templates, such as the number of interactions created using the interaction templates, the total cost, and total duration of these interactions. To open the Interaction Tmpl. Statistics window, do the following: 1. Open the list of interaction templates. 2. Select the interaction template that you want to view statistics for. 3. In the Action Pane, click Statistics. FIGURE 5.23 THE INTERACTION TEMPLATE STATISTICS To see the details about the interactions created with the interaction template, in the Interaction Tmpl. Statistics window, click the number next to the No. of Interactions, Cost (LCY), or Duration (Min.) field. In either case, the Interaction Log Entries window appears displaying a list of interactions. To view detailed information of each interaction, select an interaction entry and click Show. If an interaction does not contain an attachment, a corresponding card appears (an order, quote, or another one). If yes, the attachment opens. 167

Interaction Group Statistics In the Interaction Group Statistics window, you can view information about interaction groups. The window displays the statistics for interaction templates assigned to one or another group. For example, for the LETTER interaction group, you can see how many interactions were created using interaction templates from this group, and their total cost and duration. To open the Interaction Group Statistics window, follow this procedure: 1. Open the list of the interaction groups. 2. Select the interaction group that you want to view statistics for. 3. In the Action Pane click Statistics. FIGURE 5.24 THE INTERACTION GROUP STATISTICS To see details about the interactions created using interaction templates from the interaction group, in the Interaction Group Statistics window, click the number next to the No. of Interactions, Cost (LCY), or Duration (Min.) fields. In either case, the Interaction Log Entries window appears displaying a list of interactions. To view detailed information of each interaction, select an interaction entry and click Show. If an interaction does not contain an attachment, a corresponding card appears (an order, quote, or another one). If yes, the attachment opens. 168

Summary Microsoft Dynamics NAV offers you a possibility of recording interactions for all types of communications you have with your business partners. You can create interaction entries manually by using the Create Interaction wizard, or you can have the program record interactions when you Make a phone call or send an e-mail message. Perform specific actions in the program such as print a sales quote. Interactions you create can have attachments which can be created directly from Microsoft Dynamics NAV or saved on a disk and then imported to the program. During creation of an interaction, you can postpone the interaction and resume and finish it later. You can manage interaction entries by canceling and deleting them. You can also view interactions statistics by interaction templates and interaction groups. From statistics, you can learn how many interactions an interaction template participated in, interaction cost, and duration. 169

Test Your Knowledge 1. What must you do to delete an interaction log entry? 2. True or False: You can send e-mails to your contacts only by clicking the envelope icon next to the E-Mail field on the Communication FastTab on a contact card. 3. Complete the following sentence: You can and creation of an interaction as many times as you need. 4. You can insert attachments in interaction templates by (select all that apply): ( ) Copying the attachments assigned to other interaction templates ( ) Creating a new attachment ( ) Modifying a document stored in the Attachments folder ( ) Importing a created document into Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5. Your attachment contains merge fields. Where is information taken for filling them in? 170

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Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned Take a moment to write down three Key Points you have learned from this chapter: 1. 2. 3. 172

Solutions Test Your Knowledge 1. What must you do to delete an interaction log entry? MODEL ANSWER: You must first cancel it because only canceled log entries can be deleted. 2. True or False: You can send e-mails to your contacts only by clicking the envelope icon next to the E-Mail field on the Communication FastTab on a contact card. False: There are two ways of sending e-mails to your contacts from Microsoft Dynamics NAV: you can click the envelope icon to the right of the E-Mail field on the Communication FastTab on the contact card. Or you can use the Create Interaction wizard, and select E-Mail in the Correspondence Type field. 3. Complete the following sentence: You can and creation of an interaction as many times as you need. MODEL ANSWER: You can postpone and resume creation of an interaction as many times as you need. 4. You can insert attachments in interaction templates by: ( ) Copying the attachments assigned to other interaction templates ( ) Creating a new attachment ( ) Modifying a document stored in the Attachments folder ( ) Importing a created document into Microsoft Dynamics NAV 5. Your attachment contains merge fields. Where is information taken for filling them in? MODEL ANSWER: Microsoft Dynamics NAV fills in the merge fields with the information from the Contact Card, Interaction Log Entries, Salesperson/Purchaser Card, and Company Information windows. 173